Cross‐cultural differences in the use of the "?" Response category of the Job Descriptive Index: An application of the item response tree model. (30th December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lee, Philseok; Joo, Sean; Jia, Zihao
• Is Part Of: International journal of selection and assessment. Volume 31:Number 1(2023)
• Page Start: 175
• Page End: 188
• Publication Date: 2022-12-30
• Subjects: cross‐cultural context -- item response tree model -- Job Descriptive Index -- job satisfaction -- psychological assessment -- "?" response category; Employee selection -- Periodicals; Personality and occupation -- Periodicals; Employment interviewing -- Periodicals; Prediction of occupational success -- Periodicals; Employees -- Rating of -- Periodicals; 658.3112
• DOI: 10.1111/ijsa.12414
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0965-075X

Abstract

Abstract: Historically, the " ? " response category (i.e., the question mark response category) has been criticized because of the ambiguity of its interpretation. Previous empirical studies of the appropriateness of the " ? " response category have generally used methods that cannot disentangle the response style from target psychological traits and have also exclusively focused on Western samples. To further develop our understanding of the " ? " response category, we examined the differing use of the " ? " response category in the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) between U.S. and Korean samples by using the recently proposed item response tree (IRTree) models. Our research showed that the Korean group more strongly prefers the " ? " response category, while the U.S. group more strongly prefers the directional response category (i.e., Yes). In addition, the Korean group tended to interpret the " ? " response category as mild agreement, while the U.S. group tended to interpret it as mild disagreement. Our study adds to the scientific body of knowledge on the " ? " response category in a cross‐cultural context. We hope that our findings presented herein provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners who want to better understand the " ? " response category and develop various psychological assessments in cross‐cultural settings. Key points: We examined the differing use of the " ? " response category in the Job Descriptive Index (JDI) between U.S. and Korean samples by using the recently proposed item response tree (IRTree) models. We showed that the Korean group more strongly prefers the " ? " response category, while the U.S. group more strongly prefers the directional response category (i.e., Yes). In addition, the Korean group tended to interpret the " ? " response category as mild agreement, while the U.S. group tended to interpret it as mild disagreement. Organizations should be aware that possible biased decision‐making can result from different response styles regarding the interpretation of the " ? " response category in the JDI. We discussed possible remedies for problems with the " ? " response category.